Time Warner Cable is going ahead with a test of metered internet, starting Thursday, for new customers in Beaumont, Texas. The metered billing is TWC’s proposed answer to the problem of bandwidth hogging super users.
5% of TWC’s users take up half of the ISP’s capacity, says Kevin Leddy, Time Warner Cable’s executive vice president of advanced technology.
“We think it’s the fairest way to finance the needed investment in the infrastructure,” Leddy said.
Most ISPs already have “download caps” on their so-called unlimited use accounts, but the caps are kept secret.
From Yahoo!:
Time Warner Cable had said in January that it was planning to conduct the trial in Beaumont, but did not give any details. On Monday, Leddy said its tiers will range from $29.95 a month for relatively slow service at 768 kilobits per second and a 5-gigabyte monthly cap to $54.90 per month for fast downloads at 15 megabits per second and a 40-gigabyte cap. Those prices cover the Internet portion of subscription bundles that include video or phone services. Both downloads and uploads will count toward the monthly cap.
A possible stumbling block for Time Warner Cable is that customers have had little reason so far to pay attention to how much they download from the Internet, or know much traffic makes up a gigabyte. That uncertainty could scare off new subscribers.
Those who mainly do Web surfing or e-mail have little reason to pay attention to the traffic caps: a gigabyte is about 3,000 Web pages, or 15,000 e-mails without attachments. But those who download movies or TV shows will want to pay attention. A standard-definition movie can take up 1.5 gigabytes, and a high-definition movie can be 6 to 8 gigabytes.
Time Warner Cable subscribers will be able to check out their data consumption on a “gas gauge” on the company’s Web page.
The company won’t apply the gigabyte surcharges for the first two months. It has 90,000 customers in the trial area, but only new subscribers will be part of the trial.
We can’t help but think this is going to put a damper on services such as the new Netflix box, or Apple’s iTunes. It may have some pricey implications for deaf cable customers as well, as they tend to use internet video to communicate.
Then again, it does seem more honest than Comcast’s current policy of shutting down users who exceed an undisclosed monthly cap.
What do you think? Will this fly?
Time Warner Cable tries metering Internet use [Yahoo!]
(Photo: meghannmarco )
More From Consumerist
-
‘Six Strikes’ Anti-Piracy Program Delayed To 2013, This Time Because Of Hurricane Sandy
-
Time Warner Testing System Where Technicians Show Up Within 1-Hour Window (Gasp!)
-
Time Warner Cable Entices Us Back With Discounts, Forgets To Give Them To Us
-
Worst Company In America Round 1: Cablevision Vs. Time Warner Cable
-
DirecTV Wants To Sell You A Home Security System
Lot’s of good comments here. Remember, this is a test, and we will learn many of the things being discussed in real time. I think those participating in the test will find us fair to deal with through the early stages of the trial. One point, this test is set up to affect the top 5% percent of users, so either alot of Consumerist readers are heavy users, or some have the wrong idea about how much badwidth they really use. As always, feedback is welcome. alex.dudley@twcable.com
If Verizon pulled that shit around here I would cancel every service I have with them.
If you could get enough people to not only drop their internet but their new Tv and landline/cell phone service; then you could get the message across.
Why not let users choose from a set of speeds and caps? Certain combinations would yield higher prices, of course.
I think we’re on about a 2.5-3.0 mbps connection from TW (via Earthlink) and pay $45+taxes a month.
I think between my parents and myself we probably only hit about 20-30 GB a month, but that’s just an off-the-cuff estimate.
15 mbps and 40 gb? sounds great for us, but why not let users up their cap for an additional $10 or $15 a month, for example?
@nobodyman: While you are true about other means of communication, what I would like to consider is that video phone is becoming the standard for Deaf/Hard of Hearing users.
I do admit that not only I video phone but I use the internet to stream my surveillance so that I can check up on my home while I am away and I play games online as well. The reason I brought up the issue is to see whether it would poses a dilemma of having a cap on bandwidth for anyone.
I am hoping that Time Warner would explain exactly what their package offers and how they go about it. I believe if they do that then a lot more people would probably be receptive to the idea of a bandwidth cap.
In business school, the most successful business strategy/plan is when the customer is well informed about the plan itself. Take a look at home mortgages, credit card, etc…many people have been screwed because either they are an idiot to know what is being offered to them or they have been duped.
So my argument is, either Time Warner opens up more about their business idea or we will have to fight to know what exactly Time Warner plans to do with their idea in the near future.
Anyone can direct me to Time Warner’s information about bandwidth cap is greatly appreciated. I cannot seems to find it though.
No, No, No.
This is unacceptable. Simply and unequivocally this cannot be implemented. The internet is quite literally turning into the last bastion of unregulated freedom we have in this world. It is what connects us, informs us, and protects us from increasingly overreaching governments.
By metering internet usage you are forcing the market to start down a slipper slope. The first steps always seem innocent, but I promise you, soon enough it will be worse.
The internet has to be considered one of the greatest achievements of man. It should be celebrated, shared, and improved. Limiting usage can be looked at no other way than a step in the wrong direction.
What? Did they hire back the AOL Marketing people who came up with the old per-minute usage-based service plans? That’s SO 1995.
@Imhotep:
Yeah. Let’s bring back the CD’s in the mail also while we are at it.
@farker:
I pay around $55.00 a month in my RR market for what is 14480/714. Minus the web page lagging and packet loss all the time.
Adding more cost is rather repulsive to me. I need 80GB to be comfortable and have a bit of overhead.Since both down and up are combined.If the meter was set at 80. I would not mind one bit. Even 60 is low, but I would not sweat it.
With that cost. I might as well lease a T1 or go with the business package.
I just hope the test market fails and they at least raise the meter up to a reasonable level.Most legit users need way more.This will effect more than just the 5% crowd.
It’s a good thing TW doesn’t offer phone service, movies on-demand/PPV, etc….otherwise there would be a conflict of interest since this is pushing out VoIP, Netflix on demand, etc…. {rollseyes}
I’ve only heard one or two people identify the biggest problem of this scheme.
The lack of infrastructure upgrades that will certainly come if they get away with this. Look at other countries that are getting crazy fast internet connections for pennies! If they put in place this silly metering or tiered internet and it gets accepted by the mouth-breathing masses, it’s only a matter of time before these monopolies STOP upgrading.
What the hell ever happened to all that dark fiber they laid in the 90′s? My bet is, it’s still dark and for no real good reason other than greed.
Ever since Comcrap began the traffic shaping and cutting off people, I’ve been on a personal campaign to inform all of the non-techie people in my life to avoid using them as an internet provider. Other Consumerists should do the same in areas where there are options.
Many people will ask me what ISP I use and they’re usually shocked at what I pay. My ISP costs me $70/mo for a 6/768 DSL connection. I always get a dumbfounded look and then grilled as to why I pay so much. My response? They’re a local ISP, they provide me with static IPs, they don’t fuck with my connection and above all, when I call, it’s not India I’m talking to or some other mouth-breathing screen reader asking me to tear apart my network because they can’t think beyond their script. I have never been lied to about connection failures or have had to jump through hoops to get problems resolved. Most problems are resolved in a reasonable amount of time, and I always get a follow up call. Worth every penny I spend on internet.
Cable companies can stick it where the sun don’t shine, as far as I’m concerned.
I think it’s hilarious that they’re pitching this as the fix to the infrastructure costs – “HEY GUYS GIVE US A BUNCH MORE MONEY AND ITLL BE GOOD!” and then, when/if this is implemented, they won’t need to upgrade at all because it’ll be cost prohibitive to overtax the infrastructure.
BTW: If you read the article, they said that this would effect the cable companies offering of internet only. Not DSL, or FIOS, or U-Verse since the system they use is vastly different than cable. With cable, you share the pipe with everyone on your block basically.
I wish someone would stop these assholes before it’s too late.
@alexdudleyTWC:
If this is a test, I hope it fails. I don’t mind you going after heavy users if they’re doing something illegal- but I see this as deceptive advertising.
One warning: I have you guys right now. If you EVER put this on me, I’m gone forever, and I’m going to satellite TV as well. I have enough worries in life, worrying about how much bandwidth I’m using is NOT going to be one of them.
(Hugs his DSL line tight) Don’t ever leave me…
I’ve been a TWC customer for over 6 years now. I was even considering rolling over to the digital phone service and getting the “whole package” as it would save me a few bucks on my phone bill.
But the thought that “metered internet service” is just around the corner for TWC customers absolutely disgusts me. I’ve been “Meter” free since I canceled my AOL subscription during the 90′s and now they want to revive the “metering” zombie?
The average download speed for internet here in the US is 1.97 megabits per second, other nations such as Japan have download speeds of 47 megabits per second, South Korea has 45 megabits per second, France gets 17 megabit, and even Canada bests the US with 7 megabits per sec on average.
Yet the costs for our internet service is on average double or tripple that of these nations with much faster access and for the most part we still have wide areas where no one has access to highspeed internet.
I remember the “suprise” bills from my AOL & other ISP services during the 90′s when I downloaded a new game demo. These days you can do practically everything online from photoediting with adobe’s web based photoshop application, to watching videos, to downloading the 2.0+ gig game demos. The idea of “metered” service to me is absurd, and in my opinion it’s just TWC looking for a way to make a quick buck with out having to improve their infastructure, improve their customer service, or offer higher speed net access.
If this “test” ends up being something that TWC rolls out in the future to other non texas locations, I’ll be canceling my cable/roadrunner accounts and looking elsewhere (Verizon FIOS, Sattelite, and DSL) for a service provider who will provide me with all the services I want, at a decent price, who won’t penalize me monataraly if I happen to exceed some arbatrary bandwith limit 1 month out of the year.
“Metered” internet service died out in the 90′s. Please let the idea rest in peace.
makes me really hope sprint pulls off wi-max
come on now. this is crap. if time warner is going to do this then all cable companys are prob going to start it cause everyone seems to mock each other these days . its so sad
As an admittedly old-school freakazoid — and the most recent I checked this was probably over 10 years ago — can’t you still get “metered service” for your land-line telephone from AT&T (or whoever your local conglomerate is)?? Meaning you pay a very nominal flat fee, and have a per-minute charge on top of that?
Again, still freakazoid — I somehow have it in my head that you can still get a telephone land line at a “party line” rate? Do “party lines” still even exist? (And I’m not talking 976- — tho’ even that may be dated . . . I’m talking Rock Hudson and Doris Day . .. )
Anyhoo, as far as internet goes, I don’t know that the idea of “metered service” is so novel . . . and I’m not saying it’s not going to happen, but if it does, it may well just another stage in telecom, like the “Pillow Talk” days of the 1960′s . . .
Didn’t AOL use this model back in the dial-up days?
Weren’t they left behind the first time non-metered internet providers appeared?
Sort of like putting the toothpaste back in the tube, once they’ve sold their service as buffet, only to slap down a bill when you leave saying, “Full menu prices. Sucker!”
I hope any Texans that are part of the “experiment” raise bloody hell. Geez, they’re Texans – shoot up some corporate offices or something. Remember the Alamo!!
This is insane. Currently cable companies are charging ridiculous prices for internet. 50-60 a month, while dsl is 15-25 dollars a month. To set any kind of cap when the customer is already paying a 30 dollar premium is disgusting.
@arstal: If this is a test, I hope it fails. I don’t mind you going after heavy users if they’re doing something illegal- but I see this as deceptive advertising.
Comcast, when it caps you on unlimited, that’s deceptive. This, well, they’re telling people they have a cap. That’s not deceptive – it’s only deceptive if you say you’ll do one thing and then do another.
I have Cox Internet. I get a measley 2mbps per second for $24, that’s with tax. @Concerned_Citizen: So, this comment is not true for 50 to 60 dollars a month. I also live in Oklahoma, but yes, I totally agree that a cap on internet is ridiculous.
In 1 day and 20 hours, I’ve already hit 14 gigs out and almost 5 in. I haven’t done much on the internet.
I’ve been a TWC customer for two years and I simply love them and their internet service. That is why is saddens me to say that if they implement this capping system, i’ll have to cancel my service and switch over to Verizon Fios.
I’m in Canada and with Rogers and my limit is 60GB a month. The highest they offer is 90GB. The PS3 demos and iTunes and even Youtube chew up the bandwidth like mad. Just watching Youtube 6GB was burned in a span of three days. I didn’t even watch that many videos. It’s awful.
Utter crap. That’s why they have the tiered service speeds of 768 versus 1mbit etc. If they want to enforce a limit, do it transparently with a bandwidth cap, not a download cap.
@alexdudleyTWC: Anyone with kids, or a Netflix account, Xbox live or that kind of thing will get hammered with this. This isn’t just the heavy geek type users that could get hammered. People who work from home even part of their week could use up these caps fast.
All this tells me is to avoid TWC like the plague. If it becomes a trend with cable companies I will be running back to the arms of the phone company.
Everyone will pay tremendously for this to large companies. Small and independent businesses that need to transfer databases and files will find it tougher to compete. If you distribute your own music, or videos, or software – there is a surcharge on using your service. Technology and software updates are using up much more disk space than ever, wait until better visuals become available – we will go through 40 gig in a day just browsing and updating our OS.
We need to fight against this now.
So, you still have a monthly flat fee, with a surcharge over 40GB. Gee, I thought for a minute the fee would be lower, but with additional charges per GB so that light users could catch a break. Silly me.
Unacceptable for many reasons.
From script kiddies being able to hammer your line knowing that you will be forced to pay big $ for their stupidity to the absurdly low cap.
It seems that TWC is surprised that people do more than just check their email & ‘logoff’. I am now researching alternative ISPs. Luckily I have options in my area.
Sorry, but this is not metered. They are just setting caps by plan.
What we need are network upgrades, not new billing schemes.
A 40GB cap? Pffttt. In AK, if you don’t subscribe to the full tv/phone/internet package, which comes to around $160, the cheapest option is 1 Mbps for $50. It is capped at 5GB. You read that right. A 5GB cap on internet use. AND for each Mb over they charge half a cent. I went over one month by 7 gigs, and received an $87 bill (my fault, but still a surprise to see). The $99 dollar plan is oh-so-generous with a 25GB cap.
@CaptZ: which you also do with the other technologies (I don’t know to what degree with fiber, though). Cable is pretty easy to expand, too. But, see, if they make it where it is cost-prohibitive for you to ask for more to use, they will be under less pressure to expand and upgrade. This will allow them to add platinum gilding to their gold parachutes.
I like it just for the fact they actually TELL YOU WHAT THE LIMIT IS!!!!
Now I have a company pissed at me because I use too much…. but won’t tell me how much is too much, so it is hard to lower it since I don’t know how much to lower it. (It is simple enough to limit the traffic on BitTorrent and such to be within a limit…. but of course you need to know the limit before you can use it.)
I don’t think I would do well within those limits listed… but finally, they are going to a plan that actually lists the limit and lets the consumer have some control.
This seems to be a combination of what AOL did previously and what cellphone companies are doing now. Broadband ISP’s did NOT compensate properly for the growth of their consumer market since DSL came into existence. I’m sure TimeWarner, Verizon, Comcast and the like saw the same press releases we did about up and coming internet technologies. The proposed 40gig cap is terribly low, especially for the rapidly expanding HDTV technology. The internet is going to feel terribly restricted again, just like it did in the AOL days. As was previously mentioned, such a CAP works only with households that have one or two people or that are just using E-mail and very limited web services. I know people who use enterprise services from home are gonna get socked, unless their company picks up their internet tab; Citrix is a bandwidth hog!
When I 1st got Time-Warner’s Roadrunner service, they promised speeds in the 10 megabit range, and unlimited use. This was quite a while ago, as my area was a beta site. Now they throttle bandwidth, and want to meter. Bad decision. They want to pry more subscription money out of their infrastructure, but they’ll also make us hate them enough to seek alternatives. If they need to meter it, they should make it really cheap, and provide services that compete with Netflix and others, at a reasonable price.
What a bunch of crap. If TW does this in NY I am absolutely screwed since we have no viable options. Fios hasn’t reached my house yet, and its not like Verizon has the best installers in the world anyhow.
If I pay Time Warner for 20Mg/s download speed – I use up 40 Gb in about 30 seconds, half a minute! If they mean a cap of 40 GB, then it will take 4 hours to reach the cap. This is just horrible news for any internet user.
Youtube and many other businesses could never have started if this were in effect.
This just pisses me off.
IF Comcast tries this – I’ll be looking for another service provider.
y’know, it might be acceptable if these companies would make a good faith effort to begin improving infrastructure. Of course, this is a total cop-out on their part. They make more money and spend approximately $0 on improving infrastructure. The government does need to step in in this case since they seem entitled to taxing us for cable television and phone service. If the government stopped telecom taxes then I wouldn’t complain and expect them to do anything. As long as they feel they get a cut they better do something about this.
Absolutely ridiculous. 40GB for the highest tier is beyond stupid, as many people legitimately use well over that. I myself got a nice call from Comcast last December for going over their untold cap, and got the usual “we can’t tell you what the cap actually is” bullshit. I would hope their highest tier would have AT LEAST 100GB, and hopefully more. Vague reports say that Comcast actually sets the cap at 200GB. Paying $52.95/mo for their “premium” 16mbps service (which is in fact completely stupid to sell on a DOCSIS 2.0 system where I’m sharing 38mbps of bandwidth with many other users, as almost all cable Internet subscribers in the US are), I could exceed the “cap” in just over a day.
If my cap for residential Internet was 40GB, I would no longer be a subscriber. My parents live in TX and have Time-Warner, so if I was to go visit them for an extended period of time I’d certainly have to watch my bandwidth consumption. So, fuck you, Time-Warner.
I used to work for Adelphia before it went under, we were told that the cable companies make next to nothing on TV because of the rights they have to pay ESPN and other companies to broadcast. However their return on cable internet was 90%, so they should have plenty of money to spend on improving infrastructure without having to redo rates and screwing their customers.
As others have said this is a joke. With more and more media being pushed to the internet via legal ways this will only start to piss more and more people off.
I can look at my last months transfer as an example. I bought House season 4 off amazon as I missed half of it on tv. That was like 13 gigs right their. Would have been more but I didn’t download the portable copies of the shows as well. Downloaded a new linux iso at another gig after updates. Downloaded a few microsoft isos for a project I’m working on(from MS via volume licensing). Also downloaded a few games off xbox live to demo. Between all of that I’m at around 30 gigs of transfer and all of it was legit and legal. Yea 40 gigs a month is nothing.
I personaly hate the idea of a metered system. Sure people can say if they had a 100 gig cap it would be fine. The issue is that 100 gig cap will remain that for the next few years and will not go up as needed. Maybe 2 years from now a 800 gig cap would make more sence because of upgrades and more stations going to streaming media. You think Time Warner will adapt that fast? Hell no. You will still be capped at 100 gigs or if you are lucky 200. We need to be lookin into the future not into the past. As the services get cheaper unlimited becomes a better option for the customer.
“We think it’s the fairest way to finance the needed investment in the infrastructure,” Leddy said.
Hey Mr. Leedy… thats what the subscription fee is for. If Comcast ever does this I WILL switch to AT&T even though I know AT&T is violating my civil rights.
Their “caps” weren’t decided on because of a lack of transfer capability. They were chosen because they increased profit and “sounded reasonable”.
Odds are, they looked at the users and broke them down into ranges of groups based on how much they transfer.
“A lot of people are using this much bandwidth, so let’s set the price range jumps *just* below that much. It maximizes the number of people who will have to pay higher amounts! Increased profits!”
So happy we ditched TWC last year. How am I supposed to watch entire seasons of a show in a day with a 40 gig cap per month? Pshaw! Do they actually expect me to get dressed and go to the theater to see this week’s new releases? These people are crazy.
what good is 15mbps if you only get 40GB? you could use that up in less than 8 hours, or even faster if youre uploading simultaneously.
and so it begins.
ah well…. I love my multiple unsecured neighborhood wifi networks!
So Many years after the merger fiasco, Time Warner has finally turned into AOL.